1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sizer for garment hangers, a combination thereof and a method of use. Specifically, the invention relates to a sizer that is removable from a first hanger and re-usable on the first hanger or on a second hanger.
2. Description of the Related Art
Garment hangers (“hangers”) used in retail stores comprise a body on which an article of clothing is supported, a hook portion that suspends the hanger from a support, such as a rod, and a neck that joins the hook to the body. Hangers are provided with an indicator (“sizer”) that provides suitable sizing information, i.e., small, medium, etc, about the clothing that is supported on the hanger.
One type of hanger is a garment-on-hanger hanger (“GOH hanger”). GOH hangers may have an integral body and hook, which is cost effectively manufactured by plastic injection molding. GOH hangers may also comprise a rotatable metal hook that is embedded in a plastic body.
Regardless of how it is made, most GOH hangers are notable for one or more hook bosses, i.e., tabs, that are located at the juncture between the neck and body and onto which a sizer is able to be locked. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0270338, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes, teaches a hook boss, configured as a tab in the form of an integral protrusion that is disposed in a groove of the neck. The sizer includes one or more internal tabs that lock on to the hook boss and resists unintended removal and actively prevents malicious removal.
The securing feature of the hook boss on the neck and the tabs in the sizer is a strongly preferred feature of a GOH hanger, due to the time saving use of GOH hangers. After a garment is finished by a garment factory, the garment is placed on a GOH hanger while still in the garment factory. A sizer indicating the garment's size is then secured on the hanger. The securing feature in the GIH hangers advantageously prevents the unintended removal of the sizer due to jostling and handling during shipping, often halfway across the world.
Once the garment arrives in a store, store clerks need only hang the garment on display rack without having to place the garment on a hanger and fit the correct sizer. While on retail display, the securing feature prevents the unintended removal of the sizer due to handling by interested shoppers and the malicious removal of the sizer by uncooperative shoppers, thus, reducing time and costs in inventory management.
Upon sale of the garment, the GOH hanger and garment are separated. The hanger is then returned to a predetermined entity for reuse or material recycling. All the while the sizer preferably remains secured to the hanger via the hook boss. If the hanger is reused without the sizer, the sizer is forced from the hanger, typically causing breakage of the sizer.
Another type of hanger is a Swivel Hook hanger (“SH hanger”). An SH hanger is used by more upscale retailers, who typically receive garments that are not shipped on hangers. SH hangers have upscale feel and preferably have a more solid body. The retailers retain the SH hangers for reuse, often for many years.
Since hook bosses serve to prevent removal of the sizer, SH hangers do not have hook bosses. Consequently, sizers are rarely used on SH hangers. Retailers use other information to convey sizing information. One means is place the garment on an appropriate display using tags to indicate the beginning and/or end of a size's section.
To convey sizing information more easily for SH hangers and hangers that lack a hook boss, it is desirable to have a sizer that is interchangeable but has the advantageous securing feature used on GOH hangers to (a) prevent the unintended removal of the sizer due to handling by interested shoppers and (b) deter the malicious removal of the sizer by uncooperative shoppers.